Schooling in a war zone

Dodging bombs, and worse, for an education

“For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass’d;

And the eyes of the sleepers wax’d deadly and chill

And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still!” —Lord Byron, “The Destruction of Sennacherib”

MODERN SYRIA has been the scene of destruction of biblical proportions. Specifically, 2 Kings 18-19 comes to mind, the destruction of Sennacherib’s army, and the 185,000 Assyrians who died at the siege of Jerusalem: “And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.” Talk about waking up dead.

Theories abound. Maybe the angel of the Lord used a plague. Or maybe some sort of disease, which were frequent when armies stopped to camp in antiquity. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be worse than what modern man has discovered and is using in Assyria these days.

The most serious person still left in the Trump administration—UN ambassador Nikki Haley—says the United States is ready to act in Syria’s civil war, again. To keep her at bay, the various milksops at the United Nations are debating resolutions for a ceasefire, again. And the Bashar al-Assad regime is using chemical weapons against its people, again.

So what is the official count of the number of deaths in Syria by now? Oh, it surely surpasseth 185,000 from that siege early in the Old Testament. Opposition groups say, since early 2011, maybe 470,000-plus Syrians have been slaughtered by bombing, chemicals, or maybe just while hiding under desks at schools, which have been targets, too.

But teachers and students continue to go to school in Syria, at least when the bombing slows a bit. And some with the help and support of folks right here in Arkansas.

ONE BELEAGURED province in Syria is called Idlib. There, a small school called The Wisdom House continues to open each week, between bombing runs. Dispatches say that dozens of children have made their way back to the preschool, now that it’s underground.

The youngsters, age 6 and under, ride to and from the school each day in a van funded by donations from supporters of the project called the Syrian Emergency Task Force. Perhaps better said, the van is funded by your donations. For the effort is pushed by Arkansawyers.

We met a few of them the other day at a rally at the state capitol. They held signs and gave speeches. And they just won’t shut up, bless them. It seems they know that the only thing for evil to triumph in this world is for good men and women to do nothing. So they rally and lobby and raise money for The Wisdom House. And never miss an opportunity to speak up. And show, by their actions, how ye shall know them. Some of us call that a Christian witness. And Christians don’t have a monopoly on it.

They talk a good game, these folks. But the miracle is that it’s not just talk. Real money is going to real places. Real work is being done.

For example, not far from the school in Idlib is an above-ground women’s center also established by the Arkansas-based task force. It’s called Tomorrow’s Dawn and it was damaged in the recent raids, too. Mouaz Moustafa, one of the group’s young leaders, says he expects more women and children to enroll at the two facilities soon enough. But for reasons that don’t assure: Families are now fleeing to Idlib because they’re being bombed even more relentlessly in other parts of Syria. So what happens when the Butcher of Damascus focuses again on Idlib province?

We suppose they’ll go underground. Again.

And the children will be soothed, and clutched, and fed, and comforted, and educated by teachers in a school that you, Mr. and Mrs. Arkansas, did much to ordain and establish. Thank you.

In other Syrian news, the United States defense secretary was in the papers this week, warning the Assad regime not to use chemical weapons against his people again, reminding Damascus what happened the last time President Trump was given such information: He didn’t spare the Tomahawk cruise missiles, sending in almost 60 to ruin the morning of anybody at that Shayrat Airbase.

The current president has a lot on his plate these days. International complications don’t seem to be his forte. But the al-Assad gang needs to realize that the United States no longer has a commander-in-chief who leads from behind.

cc: The Russians and Iranians, too. Maybe more than one gang needs this reminder.